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The works of medieval exegetes such as Maimonides, Rashbam and Ibn Ezra demonstrate that Judaism has a long-standing tradition of studying the Torah critically.

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We can read the two creation stories in Genesis (1 and 2–3), and the hidden creation account in Psalms and the Prophets, without their ancient Near Eastern context. But to understand what the biblical authors are responding to, revising, and arguing against, we need to consider four Mesopotamian stories—Atrahasis (ca. 1700 B.C.E.), Enuma Elish (late 2nd millennium B.C.E.), Adapa (early 2nd millennium B.C.E.), and the Epic of Gilgamesh (2nd millennium B.C.E.)—along with the Canaanite Baal Cycle (14th–13th century B.C.E.).